PCs to face death charges after head-on collision leaves man dead

Mr Williams and his wife Jean were travelling to enjoy a weekend break in the Yorkshire Dales
12 April 2012

Two police officers involved in a head-on car collision which killed a man will face charges of causing death by dangerous driving, it was announced today.

Pc Sean Schofield, 38, and Pc Andrew Massingham, 41, of Lancashire Constabulary, are due to appear at Liverpool Magistrates' Court on February 11 in connection with the death 67-year-old Peter Williams.

The decision follows an IPCC investigation into the fatal incident.

Mr Williams, of Bolton-le-Sands, Lancashire, died after his car hit a marked police Volvo V70 on the B6254 between the villages of Arkholme and Over Kellet, near Lancaster, on November 2.

The Volvo, driven by Pc Schofield, was one of two police cars on a training run to test an electronic system for measuring vehicle speed. Pc Messingham was driving the lead vehicle in the convoy.

A third officer, who was the passenger in the car being driven by Pc Schofield, will not face criminal charges.

The crash happened as Mr Williams and his wife Jean were travelling to enjoy a weekend break in the Yorkshire Dales last year.

As the two marked police cars came round a bend on the narrow country road in broad daylight, the lead vehicle hit the Williams's VW Touran head-on.

Retired academic Mr Williams suffered severe chest and leg injuries and died in Lancaster Royal Infirmary the following day.

His wife sustained multiple fractures, while Pc Schofield suffered internal bruising and his colleague suffered a broken leg.

Lancashire Police did not say why the speed monitoring equipment was being tested on an accident-prone minor road rather than a motorway where conditions are safer.

Mr Williams's sons, Geoff and Brian, at the time described their father as "a kind and generous man with a terrific sense of humour."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in